Station Crew Wraps Up Japanese Pallet Activities

(NASA) – The Expedition 20 crew is wrapping up work with the external pallet of the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV).

On Wednesday, the external pallet was removed from the hull of the HTV and attached to the Kibo lab’s Exposed Facility for the transfer of science experiments. After the transfer was complete, the external pallet was installed back in the HTV’s hull on Friday. The station’s crew members used the Canadarm2 in conjunction with the Kibo’s robotic arm for the pallet activities.

The interior of the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle, pictured shortly after the hatch was opened, is loaded with cargo. Credit: NASA

The HTV is scheduled to leave the station Oct. 30, then deorbit for destructive re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.

The station crew members set up gear that was delivered when space shuttle Discovery visited during STS-128.

The new Air Revitalization System (ARS) rack received a controller transplant for its Microbial Constituent Analyzer (MCA) that was installed by Flight Engineer Michael Barratt. The MCA monitors the station’s atmosphere for trace constituents such as oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapor. The ARS is temporarily installed in the Destiny Laboratory and will be transferred to the Tranquility Node when it arrives next year. The controller module was moved from the old ARS, which is now temporarily stored in the Kibo lab.

The first set of brackets for the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill, or COLBERT, was installed inside the Harmony Node, its temporary location. COLBERT also will be transferred to Tranquility.